Brian Ford. Courtesy photo

Brian Ford had some downtime after four busy years on the UC Davis soccer team. So he did what any college kid would do: create a website dedicated to volunteerism.

Wait, what?

“Soccer is a fall sport,” Ford said. So when his senior season ended and he had two quarters remaining at UCD with no practices and no games, he realized he could bring to fruition an idea he’d had for more than a year. And thus, volunteerdavis.com was born.

The website’s mission statement explains the goals well: “Volunteer Davis provides an easy-to-access location where individuals can conveniently find the resources they need to give back to their local community. Here we provide a selection of opportunities from which you can pursue the one that best meets your interests and/or best fits into your schedule.”

Ford, 22, was struck by the need for Volunteer Davis when he served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at UCD. Student athletes have a requirement to volunteer, Ford explained, but they don’t always have the means to find opportunities, especially ones that fit into their jam-packed schedules. Note: Volunteer Davis is for anyone who wants to volunteer, not just UCD student athletes.

What is striking about Ford is his attitude that it’s perfectly natural for a college student to be so giving of his “free time” — in quote marks because it’s relevant to note that here are some of the other ways he uses said “free time”:

* In March, Ford was named one of 29 recipients of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, which is based on academic achievement, athletic accomplishment, community service and leadership. He will graduate in June but is starting a yearlong interdisciplinary internship with the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UCD Medical Center.

* He was captain of the Aggie Men’s soccer team for two years. In his senior season, Ford appeared in all but 33 of UCD’s 2,047 total minutes on the field.

* He appeared on the College of Biological Sciences Dean’s List multiple times.

* And to round it all out, he performed at the Aggie Idol talent show, is a featured artist in The Art of Athletes exhibit, is a member UCD’s Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Club and, well, you get the idea.

So how does a 22-year-old possess this much self-motivation and dedication to his pursuits?

“I really attribute a lot of the things that have happened to the people in my life,” Ford said. He’s had a “great supporting cast,” calling his mom “incredible,” and giving a special shout-out to Michelle Roppeau, UCD’s director of athletic academic advising. She’s been an “unsung hero,” Ford said, and was key to directing him toward opportunities like the NCAA scholarship.

Ford also seems to have the gift of foresight. For starters, he realized contacting The Davis Enterprise was a good way to reach the kind of audience he aims to attract. His very professional statement to The Enterprise said, in part, “If you know of or hear of any big events occurring locally that could use a little extra promoting, please let me know and I will do my best to help out!”

Not content that’d he reached a broad enough audience, Ford contacted Julie Clayton at Davis High School’s Career Center to spread the word to the next generation of volunteers.

And he talked with Daniel Donnelly, the founder of the Davis Volunteer Network, who offered insights on promoting community service in Davis.

Thinking ahead, the Newport Beach native also has thought about what to do with Volunteer Davis if and when he moves on from Davis. “My plan is to keep it in Davis,” Ford said, and ideally it will be “student-athlete run. … It needs to be updated by someone locally.”

How volunteerdavis.com works
Ford knew a key component of the website would be the calendar, offering at-a-glance ease. Scrolling through the calendar, a would-be volunteer can find one-time volunteer gigs — a great way to help when you have a tight schedule, or to try out an organization to see if it’s a good fit. There also are recurring opportunities.

By starting at either the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/volunteerdavis, or www.volunteerdavis.com, a volunteer can choose the “Get involved” tab to see what’s available. (Ford noted that the site has a .com rather than .org extension because it was less expensive to buy that domain name, but that there is not a commercial or profit component to the site.)

From there, users see either volunteer events “where the user is designated a role” such as working in a booth or helping a senior citizens’ group; or a participation event, such as a cancer fun-run.

Once into the event schedule, users can peruse by date or put in “popular interest” search words — like kids, homeless or animals — to find interest-specific opportunities. Details will appear about who needs help where, and voila! Email the event coordinator and you’re on your way.

The site also makes it easy for groups needing volunteers to post details. Choose the “Contacts” tab on the site, and find the “Volunteers Prospectus,” a form to fill out and provide the information on your event or organization. There’s also a place to post fundraising for events that smaller organizations need help with.

— Reach Tanya Perez at [email protected] or 530-747-8082. Follow her on Twitter at @enterprisetanya

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